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Wild and Dirty Rice

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  • ACTIVE:
  • TOTAL TIME:
  • SERVINGS: 10
  • •MAKE-AHEAD

This Cajun rice dish is called dirty because the ground poultry livers turn the grains a brownish gray. Susan Spicer gives this classic a twist by adding wild rice.

  1. 1 1/2 cups wild rice (11 ounces)
  2. 1/2 pound ground pork (see Note)
  3. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or bacon fat
  4. 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
  5. 1 cup finely chopped celery
  6. 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
  7. 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
  8. 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  9. 1 pound chicken or duck livers, trimmed and coarsely chopped
  10. 2 cups long-grain white rice (14 ounces)
  11. 4 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
  12. 2 teaspoons chopped thyme
  13. 2 bay leaves
  14. Salt and freshly ground pepper
  15. Tabasco sauce
  16. 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
  1. In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the wild rice over moderate heat until the grains are tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Drain the wild rice in a colander.
  2. In a medium skillet, cook the ground pork over moderately high heat, stirring well to break up any clumps, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
  3. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet. Add the onion, celery, red and green bell peppers and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the livers and ground pork and cook, stirring, until the livers are browned on the outside, about 5 minutes. Stir in the wild and long-grain rice, chicken stock, thyme, bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the long-grain rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Season the dirty rice with salt, pepper and Tabasco and stir in the chopped scallions. Transfer the rice to a bowl, fluff with a fork and serve.
Make Ahead The cooked pork and wild rice can be refrigerated overnight. Notes You can substitute 1 cup minced cooked pork for the ground raw pork.